[R] The Prodigal Son Returns (Fafnir & Heliodore)

[Whimsical Blue]

Fafnir sat quietly in the shoe box of an office Faustite had acquired for him after his transfer from Netherite. No more large space and grand mahogany desk... Now the space was hardly large enough for himself and one other, but for once he was thankful he had it. He couldn't imagine using Faustite's office right now. Or ever, probably.

As silent as he was, the corrupt was not exactly still in his rickety chair behind his cheap, ancient desk. Fingers steepled before him, he bounced a knee beneath the desk and stared at the papers before him like he could burn holes through them. The writing was a blur, meaningless to him. All of his mind and his nervous energy was focused on one thought.

Rowan was alive.

His emotions swung wildly between happiness so piercing he wanted to cry, and anger so hot he wanted to shred every paper in his office and smash the furniture to bits. And the targets of that anger shifted, turn and turn again, between Rowan, Albite and Faustite. He couldn't settle on who deserved his ire more, despite it being no one's fault and an ugly situation all around. That rational part of himself was drowned out by the emotion, the pain. The grief was there all over again, something he'd thought he'd finally set aside. Anger, again, for grieving something that had never really been gone... just ripped rudely away from him. He'd grieved for nothing. Like a fool... Someone, somewhere, had been laughing at him this whole time.

Shoving suddenly away from the desk, Fafnir clasped his hands tightly behind his back and paced the small confines. A bit of puffy light wobbled up from somewhere behind the desk and bobbled after him, drifting gently in his wake like a curious kitten. He ignored it, in no mood to give the thing any of his attention. Part of him knew if he did, he'd probably try to smash it... and he didn't trust his self control. The poor thing didn't deserve that, useless and cutely annoying as it was.

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Heliodor could feel the palm of his hands growing clammy as he walked to Fafnir's office. Thankfully, he had heard of his brothers office location before the chaos that had ensured at their teammate's apartment. It was beneficial to know in case he had a need to call upon the other super.

His brother.

It was so disorienting. Like a dream bordering a nightmare in the most odd ways. Fafnir was Trey. Trey had been a part of the negaverse and Helio could have been reunited with him. He could have had at least a piece of his past instead of carrying around the hurt of loss. Yes, the pain of the loss had shriveled into almost nothing, but the moment he'd seen Trey the pain he'd felt upon his corruption came back like a geyser. And now, he needed to face that pain head on while also meeting Trey's. God he couldn't even imagine how Trey was feeling right now.

The office door was in front of him before he knew it. He stared at it. Eager and unsure. Taking a deep breath to help settle his tired nerves, Helio raised a fist to knock. "Trey? It's me." He didn't say his name for multiple reasons.

One, Trey didn't think of him as Aelius. Not now. He was now Rowan to Trey but that was a name Aelius had discarded long ago. Secondly, old orders were hard to break even now. No matter he was still incredibly pissed at his commanding officer. Habits were were hard to break. And, thirdly, it just felt wrong to refer to himself any other way besides Aelius now.

"I came as asked." His voice held a note of tiredness. Even after getting some sleep he still ached. Helio felt like an entire day spent in bed wouldn't even be enough to pull the weariness form his body and soul.

Whimsical Blue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

The door was opening almost before Heliodor had finished, sweeping open quickly to reveal the tall man in dark purple and electric blue. Standing there, his eyes swept up and down the young man on the other side and Fafnir let his mind clear of the last of the fog that had obscured the familiar face on this corrupt he had seen multiple times before.

Even with the ridiculously long hair, a match for his own, he didn't look so much different from the boy he'd known. Silky purple hair, rich gold eyes set off by red liner. The outfit had an Asian cast, which struck a bit of a discordant note in him, knowing their background. Nevermind that they didn't get to choose what form their uniforms took, as evidence by his own. But there he was... the missing and mourned piece of his life he'd never thought he'd ever see again.

It was a few minutes of silence before Fafnir realized he'd been staring silently for far too long. He stepped back and turned, waving Heliodor in to the small space.

"I'm glad you came." He said, trying to keep his voice neutral. "I feel like we have a lot to talk about."

A bit of a repeat of what he'd said at Jada's place, but it was true.

"Maybe we should start with how you ended up in the Negaverse. I have water, if you'd like something to drink." <********>, he was old enough to drink now, wasn't he?

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Helio shifted on his feet as Fafnir stared at him. It was awkward, to say the least, but Helio didn't want to rush his older sibling. Helio could only imagine what Trey and his mother had gone through at his disappearance and he himself still found it utterly daunting that Trey could now be a part of his life again. Helio had grown used to being without his family, his biological family that is, for so long now that it almost felt like his older brother was a stranger to him. When time passed, and Fafnir finally stepped aside to allow Helio in, the corrupt slipped into the small office.

At the offer of water, Helio couldn't hide his grin. "Water will be fine." Though something stronger would have been better to calm nerves that had suddenly become antsy. But perhaps reuniting with his brother and drinking weren't the best of combos at the moment. He'd rather not get alcohol involved. Yet.

Fafnir was being so...formal. Some may even consider the elder brother standoffish with his approach. Helio did find the more protocol tone and words very unlike the Trey he knew. The two of them had always had a warmness between them. This, this was unexpected but perhaps Trey's way of coping? Helio though wasn't going to have it.

"Look, I understand we have a lot to talk about." He said carefully, his eyes focusing on Fafnir. Gods, it was so strange yet heart-lifting to see his brother again. He looked as he remembered if a bit wilder with the ample locks. Perhaps Trey should consider growing his hair out more? "But let's not make this feel like a work report?" He offered a smile. "I will gladly tell you everything I know, I promise. Just..." He paused, eyes softening, "I missed you, Trey. Let's reconnect as brothers not working teammates?"

He hoped it would break the ice a bit, but he continued as promised. "I honestly don't remember my corruption. All I know is what Faustite has told me about it and I honestly didn't ask for details." He shrugged a sholder as he leaned ever so carefully against the desk with a hip. "I know there was a ruse put in place between Elex and his General Schorl. Apparently, they played family for me until Faustite's glamour broke. Aixinite was the one who eventually corrupted me in the end."

Whimsical Blue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

The office door was very carefully closed behind the pair of them, blocking out any possible spies on a very private exchange. Fafnir had turned his eyes away from his returned brother and would have taken his seat behind his desk to put both physical and mental buffer space between them... but Heliodor didn't wait for him to withdraw, plowing forward to recapture his attention.

I missed you... The ice around his heart cracked, almost physical pain wracking him and drawing his eyes back to meet his brother's, blue to gold. The mask dropped, possibly for the first time since all of this had started, and he let the hurt show in his face at long last. He'd been so careful to hide it from everyone else, as though hiding it from them could make it disappear for himself. It hadn't worked, of course, but slowly the edge of it had faded, gotten dull. He'd almost learned to live with the constant ache.

"I don't know how to deal with any of this... I was... recruited back around Christmas, just before you disappeared. Trying to figure out how to deal with my crazy a** general, and then you were just gone... it tore my life apart. Joellen was hysterical, of course, and completely useless, so on top of my own grief I had be the adult and the professional and take care of all her s**t on top of my own." Gloved hands moved to his head and he pulled the headpiece free to toss it onto the desktop, digging fingers back into his hair to scratch along his scalp and ruffle the dark strands. "And it all felt so <********> pointless..."

He'd only ever done any of it so that Rowan didn't have to. So that Rowan could do what he truly wanted to do, so he could chase his dreams and shine like the little star Trey always knew he would be. He'd taken such pride in watching him. It had made everything worth it and he'd been content, at least. Without him... he'd chaffed under his restraints and expectations suddenly, all his motivation gone. He'd still done it, out of habit and stubborness, but it had eaten at him, driving him to do things he never would have all for the promise of freedom at the end of it. And he was so close now... but now Rowan was back.

Part of him, standing here before his brother, quailed at the thought of Rowan finding out some of the things he'd done. His plans didn't have room for a brother who needed to be protected. They didn't have room for anything that wasn't utterly selfish.

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Gods. Trey had to step up so much so fast. Helio's heart ached just hearing the dismay and pure exhaustion that Trey depicted. It was impossible for Helio to fully comprehend the trials Trey had gone through since his recruitment and Rowan's disappearance, but Helio could tell it was on par with his own struggles during that time.

"You're here. Alive. We're reunited, if not in the best of circumstances. So, hopefully it doesn't feel as pointless anymore." He looked to the headpiece that now lay on the desk.

"Look, we don't need to jump back into this like nothing happened. It's been four, almost five years now. That's a long time. I was under orders to not approach my family and had resigned myself to having lost my family. What you and Mother went through at my disappearance..." He shook his head. "I wish it had all been different. You didn't deserve to be force into a situation like that." It honestly showed their mother's true capabilities.

"We can take our time. I am just relieved that, despite everything, you seem to be doing well?" He hesitantly phrased it as a question. "Tell me about your recruitment?" He prodded more, wanting to know what happened to Trey as much as his brother wanted to know about Aelius himself. There was a gap of years to fill. And, while it would take time for them to fully fill in the details of those missed years, they could begin slowly.

whimsicalblue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

What his brother said was true and Fafnir felt some of that years-old tension inside of him release. His mother would never feel this relief, but at least he had the solace of knowing Rowan was alive. He could even see him, be with him. The separation had hurt like hell, but now a missing piece was returned. Whatever he had to do to fit that piece back into his life... it brought some light back with it.

Doing well. True to an extent, if this was what you considered 'well'. Fighting a secret war on the side of a ravenous, uncaring power that would one day devour everything... but at least that power gave him power in return, and a dubious kind of safety by not standing opposed to it. Fafnir would have laughed, but too much careful habit kept those traitorous thoughts in his head alone.

When Helio asked about the recruitment, the mask snapped back up again, Fafnir's face smoothing into careful neutrality. He offered a saturnine smile as he turned to retreat behind his desk, putting space between them and the past.

"You know about Chase Black, I assume? When I met him, he seemed an invaluable resource if I could cultivate a relationship, and just as interested in my skills as I was in his wealth and influence. We started working together on projects like the charity ball I organized for his late mother. Things went well, and I felt confident as I became more and more part of his circle of influence." He said as he settled in to his chair, long legs crossed in front of him. His fingers laced together, like a shield over his chest. His voice remained light, neutral, like this story was the most normal of things. "I was not aware that Chase was General Laybrinthite and he was in turn scouting me for recruitment. He must have approved of what he saw in me, because he invited me to his personal Christmas party with his team. He made a bit of a show of it, actually, when he attempted to bring me into the fold. I think he was hoping for some kind of grand reveal and welcoming party, but unfortunately, I did not turn out to be an officer and rather ruined his plans."

He still remembered so clearly the rage in Laby's eyes when the dark energy had failed to take hold, his hand up to the wrist inside of Trey's chest. It had hurt like dying, having that hand around his starseed.

"He wasn't pleased about it. He had to take me to General King Axinite to finish the recruitment, and that was the end of the little holiday party."

He was careful to relate everything in a light tone, whatever he still felt about the debacle. It had been a time of fear, pain and failure, but he had grown from it. He was a stronger, smarter man than he'd been then. Molded for the work he did for the Negaverse now. Softness, gentleness had been discarded, or mostly so... which brought him back again to the problem his brother now posed to his plans. He was going to have to consider this carefully... he'd worked too hard for too long to risk things now.

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

There was a glimpse of his old brother but just as quickly it was gone and it was troubling to watch happen. He let Fafnir make the space he needed. At his point it was going to be a lot of them feeling each other out to try and understand where they both stood. How they both functioned now.

Helio knew Chase Black more by name than personal interaction and he knew very little about General Labyrinthite. Just whatever had reached his ears or he was allowed to access in the database, which wasn’t much. So, there was little context that Helio could piece together to fully understand what that specific choice of awakening had meant and the reaction Laby had. Still, he could make his own assumptions and they weren’t good ones. To work on recruiting someone for so long, expect to pull in an agent at a party only to practically disband said party when the expected agent turned out to be a senshi? It didn’t speak well of the General. At least, that was how Helio heard and understood it.

“I am sorry.” He said. Truthfully. “It sounds like that was the beginning of a not so great relationship with your commanding officer.” Not that Helio had had it better off, but he had hoped that Fafnir’s time in the Negaverse had at least been more comfortable. Perhaps being comfortable here upon arriving wasn’t possible for some people. Considering he and Trey were so similar, perhaps it should have been expected?

He sighed. And now Fafnir was with a General who took it upon himself to hide extremely sensitive information from them that Helio still strongly believed Faustite had no right to withhold. Not to mention Helio’s own heart was torn from all of this.

They were a gods damned mess right now. Both of them in a way that was anything but comforting and welcomed.

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my time in the negaverse is that you have to make the best with whatever shitty cards you’re dealt. Right now my hand is piss poor, except for finding you again.” He offered a wane smile. “As much as that might mean to you at the moment. I know this isn’t easy at all. You have a lot more to cope with in this situation. Between the two of us I suppose I got the luckiest, but I honestly don’t know if that’s saying much. But, for now, we can try and figure ourselves out. Work together.” He shrugged a single shoulder shrug as he shifted in his seat, opting to stretch out his own long legs, alternating flexing his feet to pointing them. A familiar physical action to soothe himself.

“Life really isn’t fair, is it?” He said softly as he let his head lean back to look at the office ceiling.

Whimsical Blue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

"Our relationship was not bad. It was complicated, but Labyrinthite is a strong member of the Negaverse and he valued my skills, even if circumstances were not exactly as we wanted. He appreciated me in his own way and I learned valuable skills under him." He said, brushing off just how complicated that relationship had really been. He had learned a lot from it... Laby had been adamant in his training and without that, Fafnir doubted he'd have what skill he did in battle. It wasn't like street fighting had been part of his model training.

"When I was promoted, I realized I needed more specialized training for the branch I had chosen and I requested a transfer under General Netherite. I learned a lot from him as well and our working relationship was more... relaxed. It was only fairly recently that Faustite requested I join his team and I agreed."

Fafnir watched his brother settled himself and a hint of a smile tugged the corner of his mouth, watching the familiar habit play out. He remembered years of watching his brother do the same thing, all unconscious of the habit. He shrugged though, his eyes sweeping to the door and what lay beyond his office.

"Life doesn't care what we think is fair. It has no rules it follows. That's why we think about ourselves first and foremost." Fafnir said as he looked back to his younger brother, blue eyes to gold. "Faustite may have had good reasons not to tell us, but he will have to deal with his mistakes. This can only be better now that we're together again."

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

It was clear that Fafnir had done quite a lot for himself while in the negaverse. Focusing on what was required of him and where he knew he was in need of improvement. It was more than Helio could say for himself. He'd been more inclined to just go wherever the wind took him. Planning hadn't been a thing for him since his corruption and honestly, he felt better for it. It was unlikely to remain the same, not if he continued to move up the ranks, but for now, Helio was content with how he'd progressed, all things considered.

"No, I suppose it doesn't." He remarked about life's lack of fairness.

"I am sure he's already regretting his choices." Helio said with no lack of bitterness in his voice. "I understand that as a General, he needs to make decisions and withhold some information from the team, but this? Us?" He said with a wave his hand between them. "I don't see how not informing us about each other was not in his best interest. Our best interest. None of this needed to blow up like it did."

With a heavy sigh, heart heavy at the thought of the whole situation, Helio stopped his absent-minded stretching. "It's tiring, honestly. Tiring and infuriating at the same time."

Whimsical Blue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

Fafnir didn't smile, quite, but the corners of his mouth twitched a bit. This really was his little brother... he was really back.

"He's human, or partly. Humans make mistakes, even partial ones." He said, amusement under his voice.

After a moment's though, he leaned back in his chair and tilted his head, dark hair sliding on his shoulders.

"Do you want any of your things? We haven't gotten rid of any of it, we just had it packed up into storage. I could get you anything you wanted out of it, something from your past life you'd like to have again. Joellen will never notice." He said as he gestured between them. Fafnir was glad now that their mother had refused to even consider getting rid of any of Rowan's things. Fafnir hadn't exactly been keen himself, but it seemed like as soon as they were out of sight, packed away, she completely forgot about them, as though once they were safely enshrined she could turn her mind to other things. Secure in the knowledge of their eternal presence...

"You've got a good place to live now, yes? A good job? If there is anything you need, now, you know you can come to me, right?"

Was Rowan dancing still? Or did he make his money some other way? Surely he wasn't in some slum lord's apartment, fight off cockroaches and eating ramen... and if he was, that was ending right this minute, even if Fafnir had to pull strings to find a nice apartment for him.

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

"You've always been more diplomatic than me." Helio admitted to his brother. Perhaps it was part of the big brother roll, or that Trey naturally stepped into being a more refined person that Helio ever was, even as Rowan, but Helio could appreciate how Trey seemed to be handling this. Certainly he'd left Jada's apartment more gracefully that Helio had. Several poor choices had been made that day and Helio was not at all innocent.

The change in the conversational direction surprised Helio, but not as much as the information that Fafnir had just admitted. "I...I honestly never thought about it." He was a bit blindsided and it showed with widened eyes. To think that nothing was removed. All of it just neatly packed away as if awaiting his return like he'd just carted himself off to some remote college with all intentions of coming back. Maybe when he was first corrupted he would have had a list of things he wanted. Items he felt he couldn't part with, but now? What could he possibly want from his past? A part that was so far behind him he was pretty sure Rowan was a completely different person from Aelius.

"I honestly don't think that..." He stopped. Brows furrowed. "Actually..." He huffed out a breath. "Might not be the smartest thing to ask for but, there were photos. I had one of the two of us framed. There was also a photo box I had stashed under the bed." He held up his hands to indicate the size of it, not unsimilar to the length of a typical shoe box. "It was plain black with some gold metal detailing." He hoped it hadn't been so nondescript that Trey might not remember having seen it.

"If you can't find it, that's fine. Maybe it's for the best. I am not sure it's exactly smart that I have photos of us from before my corruption but...it would be nice to have some of those memories."

"But yes." He cleared his throat, his voice having gotten a bit gravely. "I have an apartment down town. A decent little one-bedroom efficiency. And, well, I sort of took after you job wise." He breathed out. "I've been doing modeling. Was doing it a bit before I moved back to the city and finding gigs here hasn't been difficult. I've been getting by."

The offer, he left sit between them. Another thing that, years ago he would have scrambled for the assistance of but now? He'd been doing so much on his own. Proved to himself what he could do if he just put his mind to it and the thought of having an easy road to what he once had before was...well it felt off-putting in a way he couldn't put his finger on. So instead of a real answer, he just nodded his head. "Yea. Thanks."

Helio felt awkward for it now. Unsure what to do with himself, he shifted his weight from one foot to another as he let his eyes rove over the itty-bitty office. It wasn't much unlike his own in fact, though Helio rarely did more than fill out paperwork there. He didn't much enjoy the tight confines, but it served its purpose.

"How much time do you think it's going to take." He finally questioned, eyes shifting back to his brother. "For us to not feel like partial strangers?" Because that's what it felt like right now. He loved having Trey back in his life, but the time passed had definitely created a rift that was going to take time to bridge. "We aren't the same anymore. Not two kids trying to figure out what we are going to do with our lives.. What schools we were going to attend or what our futures hold. It's more complicated now, I guess."

He shook his head, purple locks slipping over his shoulders. "I am all melancholy for now reason." He sighed quietly. "No matter what, this is all good. We'll get through it."

Whimsical Blue

 

[Whimsical Blue]

Fafnir nodded slowly, his eyes focused on his desktop as he reviewed where things had been stored.

"I don't think the photos went into storage with your things... I'm pretty sure they went in with the rest of the family photos and keepsakes. It'll be easy enough to get them... but you'll want to be careful about where you keep them. Here in the dark kingdom would be safest. No chance of someone who shouldn't see them finding them here. It would be hard to explain why you had a photo of me and my dead brother, otherwise." He said, grinning crookedly to take the sting out of that. My dead brother... he'd never really been able to phrase it like that, and only now, knowing he wasn't, allowed the words out.

His brows rose at the mention of vocation and he frowned a little. "You aren't dancing any more? What made you decide to stop?" Surely he wasn't old enough to want to retire from dancing... That was people in their thirties. An injury maybe? God he hoped not. All the work Trey had put in, so Rowan could do what he wanted to...

Finally he forced himself to relax a little and he shrugged, feeling some of the same emotions he could hear in his brother's voice. Over his shoulder, a little light bobbed around the shelves full of paperwork, flitting down to hover about Fafnir's hair. He didn't notice, focused on his brother.

"It will take what time it takes." He said, waving away the uncertainty with one hand. "We can't rush it. We just... have to work through it. I want to do that, if you want to as well. I want to have you in my life again, even if everyone else just thinks you're a friend. I'll know."

Kolina

 

[Kolina]

Helio gave his brother a crooked smile at the insistence of being careful with pictures. While it was a legit reminder, it was also something very 'big brother'-like to do. Give a reminder of the dangers but willing to supply said possible danger. It reminded Helio of their younger days when they'd get themselves into trouble with their mother. "No worries. I have the perfect place to keep them safe." The house would be ideal. Somewhere that he knew the pictures would be safe, but also less likely that they would arouse any big questions if found.

Though, the want to display just one was strong. Having that small reminder of his family was...well it was going to mean a lot. Even if he they needed to be kept secret.

The topic of his lack of dancing dimmed the younger brother's mood a bit. "There's...a lot to it." He said carefully. "I still practice and take classes. I haven't fully stepped away a but..." He chewed at the corner of his mouth. "My...corruption and adjustment to the negaverse wasn't...easy. Dancing wasn't really an option at that time," He left it there. Honestly, his first year or so in the Negaverse was something he still felt a heaviness from when the topic was brought up. It was a dark time for Helio that he much preferred to ignore.

Trey's conviction that they'd work through it was heartening though. It helped brush away the darkness that began to seep into his thoughts. He offered a smile and nodded. "Of course I want to work through it. Being able to just sit in a room with you and talk is...it's something I never thought would happen again. There's no way I am not going to want to put the work in to repair our relationship." He tilted his head slightly, pieces of purple hair slipping over a shoulder. "Even with the lost time, we're still brothers."

His smile lightened a bit at his comment as if realizing what he said. "Hm, brother. It's odd to say it again. I avoided the word for so long." It had hurt to think about let alone say. But, that was a part of the past now.

Whimsical Blue